41-23717

B-24 Liberator

A bomber crew of the 93rd Bomb Group don their flight gear before a mission, flying a B-24 Liberator (41-23717) nicknamed "Exterminator". 3 April 1943. In the centre are pilot Hugh Roper and gunner Earl Lemoine.
Image via BL Davies
Image stamped on reverse: 'passed for publication 20 Apr 1943[stamp] . 'Return to P.I.D'[stamp]. Printed caption on reverse: 'ETO HD 43 2859 Moore 8 Apr 43. The martian appearance of these clothes give these combat flyers an even grimmer appearance. Climbing into high altitude uniforms are the crew of a Liberator just about to leave its station in England for another mission over enemy territory.' Handwritten caption on reverse: '2508/RF 93 BG air crew suiting for mission.'

Page 47 of the 93rd Bomb Group unit history.
Many of the 8th Air Force Groups produced an unofficial unit history in the months after the war ended in Europe but before they were redeployed out of the ETO (European Theater of Operations).
Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.

The B-24 Liberator "Exterminator" (serial number 41-23717, H) originally flew with the 329th Bomb Squadron of the 93rd Bomb Group and was later transferred to the 330th Bomb Squadron (93BG) in March 1943. The first mission with the 330th BS was on 1st May 1943. The aircraft was flown throughout the war by pilot 1st Lieutenant Hugh R. Roper and was later lost in a mid-air collision whilst returning from Ploesti on 1st August 1943.

Service

Units

Group93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) was activated 1-March-1942 at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. On 15-May-1942 the Group moved to Ft. Myers, Florida to continue advanced flight training and also to fly anti-submarine patrols over the Gulf of Mexico; they...

People

Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 491st Bomb GroupBecker was a BTG on Capt. Roper's crew in B -24 'Exterminator'. On the Ploesti raid he did not fly with his crew because of being ill. the est of the crew was lost on the Ploesti Raid. This Sergeant. Becker,491st BG, may be the same Becker as the one...

Missions

1 August 1943Operation TIDAL WAVE. B24D Liberators attack the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The bombers flew low to avoid radar detection and dropped time delayed bombs. Out of the 177 B24Ds that took part in the raid 167 managed to attack their targets. 57...